Fraudsters are impersonating mobile phone users to have phones transferred to a different carrier –effectively stealing the users’ mobile phone number. This is being coined as a port-out scam. Once transferred to a different carrier, the fraudster receives all calls and texts that were intended for the user –including those that can be used to takeover a member’s account via online banking. Fraudsters have successfully intercepted one-time passcodes used to authenticate members logging into their account or to initiate transactions within online banking.
We recommend placing a “port validation password” on your mobile phone account to help prevent having your phone transferred to another carrier.
